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My mom loved to play spelling games. As a former one-room schoolhouse teacher, maybe such things actually seemed like fun. But since spelling was my downfall, games like that would cause me to duck and run. I would have said that word games were not only out of my league, but way beyond my area of interest. But Keesdrow has changed that.
Much more than a spelling game, Keesdrow (“word seek” spelled backwards) combines spelling with math and, best of all, a large dose of strategy. In fact, it is the strategy that captivated me and moved me from run-of-the-mill three-letter words to challenging myself to find more complex words. However, I was glad to see that it will not always be the longer words that win, but the words that make the most productive use of available letters. No wonder Mensa, a group of avid game players whose members have all scored in the top 2% on a standardized intelligence test, selected Keesdrow as one of the top five games of the year for 2006.
A game designed for repeated play, Keesdrow is incredibly well designed, with sturdy, plastic, two inch reversible letter tiles. Because of the manner of play, it would be exceedingly rare to ever play the same game twice. Each player finds a word in the grid of letters, making sure that each letter in the word is adjacent, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally to the next letter, then marks his word with a colored peg.
The next player tries to take advantage of his opponent's moves, building on previously used letters. Individual letters can be used up to three times, increasing in value with each use. So it behooves you to build on another's word or to build a word that cannot be reused. Once a letter receives a red peg, it can no longer be used. This all makes Keesdrow extremely competitive.
Keesdrow comes with a two-minute timer, which could be indispensable if you have a player who agonizes over every move, but we found it unnecessary. Typically, after a play or two, you begin to map out your line of attack, so play goes quickly.
Few games provide as strong an educational benefit as Keesdrow and with its abundance of strategy even those who are not normally drawn to word games will enjoy it. |
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